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Bangladesh commandos rescue 13 hostages, kill six IS gunmen

Bangladesh commandos rescue 13 hostages, kill six IS gunmenPosted on July 2, 2016 by Editorial Staff in AsiaBangladeshi soldiers and security forces, Dhaka. Photo: APDHAKA,— Bangladesh security forces ended asiege Saturday after storming a cafe in Dhaka where dozens of diners had been held captive through the night and shot dead six of the hostage-takers.Police said at least 13 hostages, including three foreigners, had been rescued after commandos took control of the cafe in the upmarket Gulshan quarter but added that there had been an unknown number of casualties.Two police officers were also killed at the start of the siege as they battled the hostage-takers who were heavily armed with explosives.

The Islamic State organisation claimed responsibility for the attack which follows a series of gruesome killings of religious minorities, foreigners and liberal activists in the mainly Muslim nation.“The operation is over. The situation is completely under control,” army spokesman Colonel Rashidul Hasan told AFP.Tuhin Mohammad Masud, a commander of the elite Rapid Action Battalion which led the storming operation, said the cafe itself had been cleared but added that some of the hostage-takers might still be at large.“We have gunned down six of the terrorists” Masud told India’s Times Now television channel.“The main area that they have been occupying has been cleared… Maybe some of them have escaped into a larger area.”There was no official word on the number of hostages who had been killed or wounded but Masud said that “obviously there have been casualties”.An AFP photographer at the scene said he could hear a massive gunfight as security forces launched the rescue operation more than 10 hours after militants seized the hostages on Friday night.Eight hostages including a foreigner were rescued in the first few minutes of the operation, a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.TV footage showed ambulances rushing some of those who had been rescued to a military hospital.Sri Lanka’s government said two of its nationals were among the hostages rescued and were safe and unharmed.The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Gulshan which is Dhaka’s wealthiest neighbourhood and home to many embassies.Police said the gunmen burst into the restaurant shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greater) as people were having dinner at around 9:20 pm and set off explosives.Italy’s ambassador Mario Palma told Italian state television seven Italians were among the hostages. Japan said some of its nationals may also have been among the captives.Some diners managed to escape including an Argentine chef and a Bangladeshi man who took refuge in an adjacent building.Popular with foreignersThe IS-linked Amaq news agency said the group was behind the attack and that “more than 20 people of different nationalities (were) killed”.It later issued a number of photographs of what it said were scenes from inside the cafe.The pictures, which were not immediately possible to verify, showed what appeared to be a number of bodies lying in pools of blood.Heavily armed police and paramilitary guards cordoned off the area around the restaurant after the militants launched their attack and then became involved in a firefight with police.“Two police officers including the head of Banani police station were killed. It appeared they were hit by bullets and splinters from a grenade,” deputy commissioner of Dhaka police Sheikh Nazmul Alam told AFP.“Up to 20 police officers were injured.”The attack, which comes as Bangladesh observes the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, follows a series of killings targeting religious minorities and foreigners.Earlier Friday, a Hindu temple worker was hacked to death in western Bangladesh and a Hindu priest was stabbed and critically wounded early Saturday in the southwest of the country.

The government and police blame homegrown militants for the killings, which they say are part of a plot to destabilise the country.Last month authorities launched a nationwide crackdown on local jihadist groups, arresting more than 11,000 people, under pressure to act on the spate of killings.But many rights groups allege the arrests were arbitrary or were a way to silence political opponents of the government.

Islamic State gunmen take hostages at Bangladesh restaurantPosted on July 2, 2016 by Editorial Staff in AsiaSecurity personnel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: ReutersDHAKA, Bangladesh,— As many as nine gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday night, taking hostages, killing two officers and wounding at least 26 people in a gunbattle with security forces, authorities and a witness said.At least 35 people, including about 20 foreigners, were still trapped inside the restaurant, said kitchen staffer Sumon Reza, who was among more than 10 people who managed to run to the rooftop and escape. He said the attackers chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) as they launched the attack around 9:20 p.m. Friday, initially opening fire with blanks.A huge contingent of security forces, wearing flak jackets and helmets, cordoned off the area around the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka’s Gulshan area. Resident Lutful Amin told The Associated Press he heard several explosions, the last of which went off around 10:45 p.m., about 90 minutes after the initial attack.

More than seven hours after the hostage crisis began, a standoff had developed with little sign of any resolution.The attackers “have not responded to authorities’ calls for negotiation,” said a member of the Rapid Action Battalion, identifying himself as Lt. Col. Masood, during an interview with the Indian TV channel Times Now. He said the police cordon would prevent any of the attackers from escaping.He said authorities were planning to launch a coordinated response at dawn. They also ordered internet services to be blocked across the country, according to internet service provider Aamra.Police said the two officers died at a hospital after being wounded in the exchange of gunfire with the attackers, who also hurled bombs. Ten of the 26 wounded were listed in critical condition, six of whom were on life support, according to hospital staff, who said the injuries ranged from broken bones to gunshot wounds. Only one civilian was among the wounded.The Islamic State group’s Amaq News Agency said “Islamic State commandos” carried out the restaurant attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadis activity online. Bangladesh authorities did not immediately respond to the claim, but in the past have denied that the extremist group has a presence in the country. The U.S. State Department said it had seen the IS claim, but could not confirm its authenticity.The head of the elite anti-crime force, Rapid Action Battalion, told reporters Friday night that they were working to save the lives of the people trapped inside the restaurant. The hostages included an unknown number of foreigners.“Some derailed youths have entered the restaurant and launched the attack,” Benazir Ahmed said. “We have talked to some of the people who fled the restaurant after the attack. We want to resolve this peacefully. We are trying to talk to the attackers, we want to listen to them about what they want.”“Our first priority is to save the lives of the people trapped inside,” Ahmed said. He would not say how many people were being held hostage.Among the hostages was a businessman and his wife and two children, according to his uncle Anwarul Karim.“My nephew Hasnat Karim called me and said he was inside with his family. He told me, ‘Please save us, please!’ And he hung up,” he said. “We do not know what is going on there.”In Washington, a White House official said President Barack Obama was briefed on the attack by his chief counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco. The president asked to be kept informed as the situation develops, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the president’s meetings.State Department spokesman John Kirby says the U.S. is in contact with the Bangladesh government and has offered its assistance to bring those responsible to justice.He said all official American personnel are accounted for with no injuries reported, and the department is working with local authorities to determine if any U.S. citizens and locally-employed staff were affected.Bangladesh, a traditionally moderate Muslim-majority nation, has recently seen an upsurge in militant violence. Nearly two dozen atheist writers, publishers, members of religious minorities, social activists and foreign aid workers have been slain since 2013 by attackers wielding meat cleavers and machetes. The frequency of attacks has increased in recent months. On Friday, a Hindu temple worker was hacked to death by at least three assailants in southwest Bangladesh.

The attacks have raised fears that religious extremists are gaining a foothold in the country, despite its traditions of secularism and tolerance.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has cracked down on domestic radical Islamists. It has accused local terrorists and opposition political parties – especially the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami – of orchestrating the violence in order to destabilize the nation, which both parties deny.The Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliates have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks but the government denies that either group has a presence in the country.